Vietnam, Italy delighted with strategic partnership   Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti welcomes Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong   Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti shared their delight with the establishment of a strategic partnership between Vietnam and Italy. At their meeting in Rome on January 21 (local time), the leaders said the strategic partnership will open up more opportunities for both sides to co-operate but also require their greater efforts to develop their ties extensively, comprehensively and sustainably and bring practical interests to their peoples. Party leader Trong said he was pleased with his State visit to Italy and stated that Vietnam places importance on Italy’s position in the region and the world and wants to foster its friendship and multi-faceted co-operation with the European country. He thanked the Italian people for their solidarity and valuable support given to Vietnam in its past struggle for national independence as well as in its current national construction and development, describing these as a firm foundation for the current bilateral growing friendship and co-operation. He lauded Italy on prioritising economic, trade and investment cooperation with Vietnam by 2020 and continuing providing the country with official development assistance (ODA) in 2013-2015 while weathering the effects of economic and bad debt crises. The Italian PM said he is impressed by great achievements the Vietnamese people have made during the renewal process. He affirmed that Italy attaches special importance to and highly values Vietnam’s role and position in the regional and international arenas. The two leaders agreed to strongly promote bilateral relations in all aspects, encourage and create conditions for their businesses to enhance investment co-operation in areas where Italy is successful and Vietnam has demand such as infrastructure, energy and environment. They also pledged to accelerate the signing and implementation of co-operation agreements in culture, education-training and defence-security, and continue effective co-operation and co-ordination and mutual support at multilateral forums and mechanisms. Italy supports Vietnam in strengthening its comprehensive co-operation with the EU in the ASEAN-EU framework while Vietnam backs Italy ’s promotion of relations with ASEAN countries. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern and on how to safeguard maritime security and safety, maintain peace and stability in the region and settle regional disputes with peaceful measures on the basis of international law. After their meeting, Party leader Trong and Italian PM Mario Monti witnessed the signing of a joint statement on the establishment of Vietnam-Italy strategic partnership, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the Italy House project and an action programmme on educational co-operation between the two governments in 2013-2016. The other documents included the MoUs on co-operation between the two Defence Ministries, co-operation and administrative assistance in the customs sector, and co-operation between the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the Italian National Oil and Gas Group. The Italian side granted an oil and gas exploration and exploitation license to PetroVietnam. On the day, Party General Secretary Trong and his entourage attended a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of Vietnam-Italy diplomatic ties. Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said the setting up of diplomatic relations on March 23, 1973 ushered in a new page in history of the two countries’ relationship and reflected Italy’s valuable support for Vietnam at a time when it was fighting for national independence and unification. In its deeper renovation and greater regional and global integration, Vietnam has become a market of great potential that draws much attention from Italian businesses, FM Minh said, adding that Italia is one of Vietnam’s important partners in the EU with two-way trade continuously increasing in recent years. As an active ASEAN member and a co-ordinator for ASEAN-EU relations in the next three years, Vietnam is willing to support Italy to boost its relations with ASEAN and member states, he noted. The minister said that the establishment of Vietnam-Italy strategic partnership during this visit marks the start of a new chapter in the bilateral ties with intensive, effective and sustainable development. He affirmed that Vietnam always wants to deepen its friendship and co-operation with Italy. For his part, Italian Foreign Minister stressed that Vietnam holds a new central position in Italy’s foreign policy in the context of the dynamic development of its relation with the whole Asian region. The Vietnam-Italy strategic partnership will further improve the co-operation between the two sides, he said. Also on January 21, the Vietnamese delegation visited an exhibition on Vietnam-Italy solidarity in the 1960-1970 period and enjoyed an art performance in celebration of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties. In the evening of the day, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano hosted a national banquet in honour of Party leader Trong and his entourage. (VNA)